The Flamingos have some interesting young bats, but sport too many holes to put together a winning season in '08. With a deep pitching draft, the Flamingos hope to create more pitching depth in their farm.

C

Holbrook Hawks

CF Joey Gathright, SS Mike Young, LF Melvin Mora, LF Garret Anderson

RF Alex Ochoa

The late spring signing of Ochoa should help keep Holbrook in the conversation for division title. They also resigned many key players this year. The lineup is deeper than most in the AC, and there's enough pitching to keep them in most games. 10th overall prospect Mejia opens the season at 1B, so we'll see if this helps put them on top once again. Look for 85-90 wins here.

The Brotherhood has pieced together a team that can win some games led by ageless wonders Lee and Everett, but looks to lack depth and will have trouble getting back to the 90 win mark that they hit last season. A good team but not the best in their division.

B+

Pittsburgh Champions

1B Kevin Youkilis, RP Marc Kroon

2B Joe Dillon

Dillon's bat at 2B makes a strong lineup even tougher to pitch through, as he compliments future HOF hopefuls Chipper and ARod. An additional plus arm in the rotation would put the Champions over the top as the favorite to emerge from the AC this offseason.

B+

Gobbler's Knob Turkeys

LF Albert Pujols

None

Local beat writers were disappointed to see Pujols walk with no replacement subsequently onboarded. They have an unbelievably strong young pitching rotation with Lincecum, Greinke and Price (with Darvish and Kershaw waiting in the wings), but don't have a strong enough lineup to put up the run support to win enough this year.

Voodoo fans collectively held their breath as Haren opted out of his contract, but management was able to secure him to a 7 year extension before he reached free agency. With Haren leading a strong pitching staff and 5 tool standout Valdez atop a potent lineup, the Voodoo should cruise to another AC Central title.

B

Omaha Mammoths

RF Jason Werth, 2B Luis Garcia

None

The Mammoths have a few aging stars but don't have the depth or the pitching to compete in 2008. Look for top of the rotation arm Oswalt to be on the block in July if the Mammoths don't start out hot.

C-

San Antonio Armadillos

RP Wade Miller, RP Joel Peralta, SP Andy Pettitte

None

The Armadillos don't have many holes, but are generally below average in positions around the diamond. They should lose less than 104 games this year, but won't be anything more than a September spoiler in 2008.

The Barrage had a busy offseason as they look for ways to make noise in a crowded division with WCS winner Yellowknife and perennial playoff contender Portland ahead of them. They are a team much more talented than the 56 wins they mustered in '07, but still are missing out on the firepower needed to scare off the big guns. Rumblings of dealing superstar Rodriguez to a contender have quickly been dismissed by management.

B

Palo Alto Pranksters

SP Barry Zito, 1B Frank Thomas

RP Marc Kroon

Still with the #1 ranked farm, the Pranksters look to be on the upswing of their deep rebuild. Young talented bats are peppered through their lineups, but their pitching is still weak. They're progressing on the right track though.

C+

Portland Beavers

RP Kevin Barry, RP Koji Uehara, RP Randy Flores

CL Matt Smith, RP Victor Alvarez

Taking the last 3 wild card spots, the Beavers shored up their pen with standout Matt Smith to anchor, and are solid from top to bottom. They are definitely a 90-95 win team (or more), but on paper look to be a half step behind the defending champs.

No moves needed to keep this train rolling, as their main issue is too much depth (and an owner unwilling to spend). All the pieces are there, led by 3 time MVP Valadez (only 26 years old this year), and a stronger and more seasoned rotation than they've had to work with over the last couple of seasons.

Atlanta had a respectable first season in a very tough division, but know their window is not in the short term. They spent some money on Floyd to marry with Ramirez for a decent middle of the lineup, but will hover around 4th or 5th place for one or two more seasons while they continue to build from the ground up.

The Rebels finally broke through and reached the post season in 2007, led by Wainwright, Hernandez and Hamels in their rotation. Veteran signal caller Ruiz was brought in to maximize pitching output and add a good bat to their lineup. Will be difficult to pass by the NYC juggernaut, but the Rebels are positioned well to secure another WC birth.

The Whitefish made many strong moves in the offseason, but lack the star power to compete in the division this year, and look to be stuck in the middle. They will do well enough, and should finish the season around .500.

The harsh media in New York took the Baseball Club down a peg after resigning super-stopper Smith fresh off of blowing a WCS for them, but his 6.5 WAR and 290 strikeouts out of the bullpen are records not even worth this writer's time to double check, and the move was a necessary evil. The team is well balanced and features too many stars to list (2 of the top 20 OSA hitters and 3 of the top 20 OSA pitchers). NYC continues to be the favorite to emerge from the RC in October.

B-

Old Bridge Titans

C Ramon Castro, LF Shelley Duncan, 3B Mike Lamb, SP Vincente Padilla

RF Franklin Gutierrez, RP Rich Harden

The Titans will put a respectable team on the field, but are playing for the future - a position which was evident when they sent veteran Padilla to the Spartans. The minor league depth is strong, but it will take a lot of time and effort to start seeing results at the ML level.

C+

Dallas Daredevils

SP CC Sabathia, SS Jorge Pineiro

RF Brian Giles

Dallas came crashing back down to earth in 2007, where many of their depth issues were exposed throughout the year. There are some pieces in place to win some games, but with CC off the books and finally getting to draft in the first round of the amateur draft this year, Dallas may look to head in the other direction.

C-

Eden Prairie Landsharks

SP Ryan Drese, SP RA Dickey, LF Emil Brown

C JC Boscan, RP Sang-mok Lee, SP John Patterson

Maine who? would be what most Landshark fans would say after watching Morillo win rookie of the year and MVP in 2007, leading his team to the playoffs in a tough division. Kendall's leadership, Morillo's raw talent and a tough rotation make Eden Prairie the favorite to repeat in the division.

B+

Fargo Rage

C Carlos Ruiz, SS Jason Bartlett

C Victor Martinez, LF Antonio Estolas

The Rage came up just short of the playoffs in 2007, after getting a performance for the ages from Pitcher of the Year Liriano, and made a splash acquiring Martinez to work behind the dish. But on paper, they look to be a half step behind the Landsharks, but will make it a contest all the way up to the final 3 games of the season (played in Eden Prairie).

Toledo has quietly been improving and moving on past older contracts, and are positioned with a solid roster from top to bottom, but will need big performances from a couple of bats (Larish and rookie Davis) to make a push in the division. Look for 83-86 wins from the improved Troutheads.

Hollywood broke away from the mediocre pack and took the division again in 2007, and made plenty of noise in the offseason to position themselves as the easy favorite to do so again. Pujols will slot in between Cano, ManRam and Beltre in a very scary lineup, which should put up plenty of runs to offset any missteps from an average rotation (the Schmidt setback didn't help). Look for 90-95 wins here.

A

Oregon Ducks

CF Chone Figgins, RP Hideki Okajima, 3B Bobby Hill, SP Tomo Ohka

RP Jon Rauch, SS Vincente Valdes, RF Shelley Duncan, SS Mike Young

Oregon looks to be steadily improving, while also knowing they haven't reached their window yet. 50 wins in '06 to 63 wins in '07, this team should take about 75 games in '08. Top 20 prospects Posey and Inman are licking their chops in AAA, and could add some firepower should the Ducks come out of the gate hot this year.

C+

Phoenix Firebirds

RP CJ Nitkowski, RP Paul Shuey, 2B Placido Polanco, LF Andres Torres

C Bob Henley

Phoenix is slowly but surely bringing their homegrown talent to the bigs, and in a year where they have no expectations, have the ability to test out where the team is headed. An average rotation will keep them in games, but any success they do have will be based on Cutch and Upton helping out Butler in run production.

Spartans fans appreciate the effort, as middle of the road talent in Thome, Sanchez, Zito, Bartlett and Padilla were brought in to help field a respectable team next to fan favorite Yadi Molina, but San Francisco knows they aren't looking to October until deGrom, Eaton and whoever else they continue to draft make their way through the ranks. 79 wins from 2007 should be about the mark they hit in '08 as well.

B+

Seattle Steelheads

1B Ryan Howard, RP Jon Rauch

None

With mostly the same team in place (and some big names signing extensions), the 88 win Steelheads team should remain over .500 this year, but did not do enough this offseason to match the Stars, and will fall short of the playoffs a few games out of the division and the wild card.